FAQ
The basics
What chain is this on?
Base mainnet, chain ID 8453. That is the only deployment. Addresses are on Contracts & addresses.
What do I need to start? Native Base USDC for collateral and trading, plus a little ETH on Base for gas. See Quick start.
Can I use bridged USDC?
No. Only Circle's native Base USDC at 0x833589fCD6eDb6E08f4c7C32D4f71b54bdA02913 is recognised.
The instrument
Why does 1 option cost 1 USDC? Because an option "unit" here is one USDC of collateral. Options are denominated in the collateral behind them, not as contracts on a notional. The price you pay to buy a leg on the AMM is some fraction of that — a leg trading at 0.3 costs 0.3 USDC per unit.
Why is my out-of-the-money option still worth something? The zero shift. Every long leg is floored at 10% of collateral and every short leg capped at 90%. This is what stops option prices approaching zero, where a constant-product AMM becomes exploitable. See Core concepts.
Why can't my long call be worth more than the collateral? Because there is only the collateral to pay from. Fully collateralised means no margin, no liquidation and no bad debt — and, necessarily, no unbounded upside. These behave more like capped spreads than vanilla options.
Can I exercise early? No. All options are European and settle only after their maturity. American options are addressable in the token id format, but the contracts do not accept them at mint.
What happens if I just do nothing after expiry? Nothing bad. Your payout waits in the contract indefinitely; there is no claim deadline. But nothing claims it for you either.
Why are all expiries on Friday? Weekly Friday expiries concentrate liquidity into fewer instruments. Offering more dates would split the same volume across more pools.
My strike isn't available. Strikes come from a fixed 248-point grid with roughly 11% spacing. Take the nearest one. See The options grid.
Trading
Why did the app ask for more USDC than I typed? The swap fee is charged in USDC on top of your input. It is dynamic, so on a pool that has drifted from fair value it can be much larger than the 2% floor. The cap you approve bounds it — see Dynamic swap fee.
Why is the fee so high compared to other AMMs? Because options are not spot. Their fair value decays every block and jumps with the underlying, so a pool is always somewhat stale and a low fixed fee would simply hand that staleness to arbitrageurs at liquidity providers' expense. Trading near fair value costs the 2% floor; the high rates apply only to trades that push a pool far from it.
My swap reverted with ROUTER: INCORRECT_MATURITY.
The option has expired. Trading stops at the maturity timestamp; exercise is the only remaining route.
ROUTER: AMOUNT_BELOW_PRECISION?
Your amount rounds to less than one cent. All amounts are whole cents.
ROUTER: STABLE_AMOUNT_EXCEEDS_MAX?
The live fee would push your total spend past the cap you approved. The pool has diverged since you got your quote. Requote, or decline to trade a mispriced pool.
There's no pool for the option I want. Then nobody has provided liquidity on that leg. You can mint the options yourself and seed the pool.
Minting
If minting gives me both legs, what have I actually got? A flat position — worth what you posted. You take a view by selling one leg. Selling the long makes you short the option; selling the short makes you long it.
Do I need margin to write options? No. The collateral you post at mint is the entire obligation. You cannot be called on for more.
Does it cost anything to mint? Only gas. The protocol's fee is charged at settlement.
Liquidity
Can I add liquidity with just USDC? No. A pool is a pair and needs both sides. Most providers mint options to get the option side.
How do I claim my fees? You don't — fees accumulate in the pool and raise the value of your LP shares. You realise them by withdrawing.
Can I withdraw after expiry? Yes. Withdrawal has no maturity cutoff, unlike swaps and deposits. You will receive USDC plus expired option tokens, which you then exercise. See Withdrawing & rolling.
Settlement
Who decides the settlement price? Chainlink. The first exercise after a maturity expires records that feed's price for the maturity, and everyone settling that maturity uses the same recorded number.
What if the feed is down at expiry? Settlement for that maturity waits until the feed produces a fresh answer within the staleness window (24 hours by default). Funds are not lost, but they are inaccessible in the meantime.
Do I need my counterparty to do anything? No. The contract is the counterparty to every position; each leg settles independently.
Is being first to exercise an advantage? No. The recorded price is identical for everyone. The first exerciser of a maturity just pays slightly more gas, since their transaction also writes the price.
Token and fees
Where do protocol fees go? The 0.5% exercise fee goes to a protocol-controlled collector address. Swap fees are not protocol revenue at all — they stay in the pools with liquidity providers. See Fees.
Can the fee change? Yes, within a hard-coded 0.1%–1% band. The maximum is hardcoded and cannot be exceeded by any administrative action.
Is there a token for protocol? Not yet, but stay turned.
Safety
Has this been audited? Yes, internally and thoroughly, top LLMs runs for several hours;
Can the protocol stop me withdrawing? Exercise and liquidity withdrawal have no pause and no admin gate. A pause blocks new issuance only.
I found a vulnerability. Please report it privately first, via Telegram or Discord.